Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of turmeric rhizome powder (TRP) and black pepper (BP) on blood components and performance of male broiler chickens. A 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with two levels of TRP (0 and 0.5 g/kg) and three levels of BP (0, 0.5 and 1 g/kg) were used to provide six dietary treatments. Each diet was randomly fed to four groups of 12 chicks each, and performance and hematological criteria were measured. The results showed that weekly body weight gain (BWG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of broilers were not influenced by TRP. The addition of 0.5 g TRP to diet significantly decreased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity, but did not affect aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities, and concentration of low density lipoproteins (LDL), high density lipoproteins (HDL), cholesterol, and triglycerides in serum. Serum chloride and total electrolyte balance significantly decreased by TRP, whereas sodium and potassium concentrations were unchanged. Supplementation of diet with 1 g BP significantly reduced FCR in the first week; however, this pronounced effect was not observed in the later weeks. The BWG and FI were not influenced by BP. Even though, the serum metabolites such as LDL, HDL, cholesterol, electrolytes and activity of AST, ALT and LDH enzymes were not influenced by the addition of BP to diet, serum triglycerides significantly reduced in birds fed diet containing 1 g BP as compared to those fed control diet. There was no significant interaction between TRP and BP on blood metabolites and performance of male broiler chickens.

Key words: Turmeric rhizome, black pepper, hematological criteria, broiler chickens.

Abbreviation

Abbreviations: TRP, Turmeric rhizome powder; BP, black pepper; BWG, body weight gain; FI, feed intake; FCR, feed conversion ratio; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase;LDL, low density lipoproteins; HDL, high density lipoproteins.